Danny Summers Named Executive Vice President Of The Sydney B. Meadows Scholarship Endowment

The Sidney B. Meadows Scholarship Endowment Fund board of directors announced that Danny Summers of Summers & Associates was recently appointed executive vice president for the fund on March 8, 2012. Summers will be responsible for the day-to-day activities of the fund, donor development, scholarship announcements, applications, evaluations and awards, as well as implementing the board’s strategic vision and direction.

Summers, who helped develop the fund during his tenure as executive vice president of the Southern Nursery Association from 1988 to 2006, brings nearly two decades of previous fund and association management experience.

“I am pleased that Danny will once again be involved in the management of the fund. His previous experience and leadership will be a valuable asset as we actively promote the fund and prepare to award scholarships later this year,” says newly-elected president Dr. Doug Bailey, professor and head of the department of horticulture at the University of Georgia.

In the coming months, Summers will focus on evaluating current investments, increasing donor participation, and developing a comprehensive website featuring online resources for scholarship information and an online application process. He will also work on creating an improved system to easily and securely make donations to the fund.

“I am happy to be once again involved with the Sidney B. Meadows Scholarship Endowment Fund,” Summers says. “I remain committed to my belief that supporting our students through scholarships is vital to this industry’s future. I look forward to working with the new board, our students, and our supporters of the fund.”

A new educational video that provides information on the horticultural industry’s essential role in bee and pollinator stewardship is one result of industry collaboration by the Horticultural Research Institute, AmericanHort, Society of American Florists and the American Floral Endowment. “Protecting Bees & Pollinators: What Horticulture Needs to Know,” narrates the current state of bee and pollinator health, provides information on factors that impact pollinators and the environment and underscores the beneficial role horticulture plays in providing healthy pollinator ecosystems.

Vegetable breeding companies will come together this August to host the Summer Vegetable Trials in California. Like the long-standing California Spring Trials that are held annually in California, attendees will have the opportunity to visit breeding companies' trial sites in seven locations throughout the state, from August 20-21, 2015. National Garden Bureau (NGB), the non-profit organization promoting gardening on behalf of the horticulture industry, is organizing and publicizing this event on behalf of its members.

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In Greenhouse Grower’s annual State Of The Industry Survey, we asked how your operation is living the GROW Initiative’s five pillars: How are you driving consumer success, cultivating new customers, demanding quality, investing in the industry and sharpening business management? Through your candid responses, we learned about some of the ideas you’ve implemented and steps you’re taking for 2015. Here are just a few.

The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation is offering college students an opportunity to work side-by-side with the Noble Foundation’s renowned agricultural consultants and researchers through the Lloyd Noble Scholars in Agriculture program, a summer internship that provides students the opportunity to enhance their in-class education with real-world application and experiences.

Students in the new HORT 331X Hydroponic Food Crop Production course at Iowa State University are producing more food than they can eat, so they began donating the vegetables they produce to a local food pantry and free meal program.

Members of the Millennial generation aren’t buying cars and houses the way their parents did, and according to a recent article from The Atlantic titled “The Cheapest Generation,” it might be more than an effect of a bad economy. So what does this mean for horticulture? Industry members weigh in.